Lu Tongcang could hear the sound of his own heartbeat.

Thump, thump, thump.

His eardrums were ringing, and his head was throbbing with pain.

He had never been in such a miserable situation before.

He was surrounded by enemies, with ambushes on all sides.

And it all started with Jiang He.

In his opinion, although Jiang He's power had grown rapidly, there were also weaknesses, such as his low birth and inability to connect with foreigners. The foreigners would not lower themselves to cross over to Jiang He, and the same limitations applied to him.

If Jiang He could marry a wealthy daughter from a high-ranking family, he might have the strength to compete with Lu Tongcang in the future.

Therefore, Lu Tongcang did not take Jiang He too seriously before this.

But Lu Tongcang did not expect that this day would come so soon.

He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. The wound on his forehead throbbed with pain.

It was just grazed by a bullet, luckily it didn't hit him.

He had been running for a long time, and his legs were starting to feel weak.

He had been living a life of luxury for too long, with a beautiful woman by his side, and he was no longer as strong as he used to be.

Using a few grenades, he caught Jiang He off guard and his men escorted him all the way to the dock.

There was a small boat docked here all year round, which was one of the escape routes left by Lu Tongcang.

He wouldn't use it unless he had no other choice.

And now, it seemed like he had no other choice.

"Sir, please get on the boat quickly, it's too late to wait any longer!"

His men were sweating profusely, and there was still a group of people engaged in a gun battle with Jiang He's men not far away. However, Jiang He had come prepared tonight, and his overwhelming advantage in numbers would eventually reach this place.

Lu Tongcang hesitated only because he was unwilling in his heart.

But he still stepped forward, taking advantage of the cover of night to quickly leave and board the small boat.

Behind him, the noise and commotion grew closer, with gunfire ringing out incessantly. Lu Tongcang didn't need to see it with his own eyes to know how fierce the battle was.

He feared that most of his carefully cultivated and loyal followers would fall tonight.

If he had known that Jiang He would cause trouble tonight, he would have taken action first...but there are no ifs in the world.

The small boat swayed on the river, but fortunately the boat was spacious enough that he didn't fall into the water with a single sway.

Everything he needed was inside, including the tea set made by the famous tea shop that Lu Tongcang often used.

The boatman had been waiting at the bow of the boat for a long time.

Two trusted subordinates followed him onto the boat.

"Sir, should we set sail now?" The boatman asked nervously.

"Is there even a need to ask? Hurry up and start the boat!"

Lu Tongcang felt that something was off. This feeling shouldn't have emerged at such a tense moment, but his sense of unease grew heavier.

"Wait!" Suddenly, Lu Tongcang spoke up.

Without a word, the boatman jumped into the water and disappeared under the surface after a few bubbles. His men were shocked and wanted to chase after him, but it was too late.

Another one of his men quickly grabbed an oar and used all his strength to row the boat away from the shore before the pursuers caught up.

"Master Lu, they can't catch up now!" One of his men breathed a sigh of relief, while the other guarded Lu Tongcang and fired shots to fend off the pursuers on the shore.

But strangely, Jiang He didn't allow them to shoot back.

This was not good!

Lu Tongcang felt a sudden jolt and his heart skipped a beat.

He was in the cabin and couldn't see the Jiang He on the shore raise his arm, aiming his gun at them.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!

Five shots in a row!

...

"And then what?"

Ling Shu was still groggy and couldn't remember how he got into the bathroom or how he almost fell asleep in there.

It was Yue Dingtang who came in and washed his hair, forcing him to use countless bars of soap to turn him from a salty fish into a fragrant little baby.

At least in Yue Dingtang's eyes, he had returned to his original state.

Ling Shu himself plunged into the bed, forgetting that he was in Yue Dingtang's house and that it was Yue Dingtang's bed. He slept like a log.

He had exhausted his energy and had no interest in anything romantic until he woke up.

Little did he know, he woke up in the middle of the night. It all started with a bowl of noodles brought in by Yue Dingtang.

"Are you even human?" Ling Shu was on the verge of tears. "Hurry up and give me a bowl."

But this was no ordinary bowl of noodles.

It was made by simmering pork and chicken bones for two hours, scooping the soup onto the noodles, and then covering it with stir-fried chicken leg meat. Just the aroma alone was enough to imagine its deliciousness.

Yue Dingtang, who usually valued table manners, had brought the bowl of noodles into the room instead of eating in the dining hall.

His behavior was outrageous, and Ling Shu, awakened by his hunger and desire for food, felt like half of his soul had left his body.

Half of him was taken away by the noodles, while the other half remained in his dreams.

And then, he happened to overhear the subsequent developments of the situation.

Since it was a collaboration, Jiang He showed enough sincerity. At least after he finished handling things on his end, he would send someone to inform Yue Dingtang of the results. He politely expressed that he would visit in person another day and asked Yue Dingtang to make time to meet him.

"So, Lu Tongcang really died?"

In the end, Ling Shu got half a bowl of noodles. He listened while eating and managed to squeeze in a question.

The noodles were specially saved for him by the old housekeeper, but not too much, as it was late at night and he couldn't eat too much.

Fortunately, the soup was plentiful enough to soothe his wounded soul that had been injured by Old Yue.

"He died."

He died without any doubt, with no room for deception or escape. Jiang He had long discovered the whereabouts of the ship belonging to Lu Tongcang, but he kept quiet and instead used various means to bribe and coerce the boatmen, turning them into his own informants.

He didn't need the boatmen to do anything, just to plant explosives in the cabin.

When Lu Tongcang boarded the ship, the boatmen would jump into the water themselves, and Jiang He wouldn't have to worry about anything else.

With the five shots fired by Jiang He, the explosives on the ship were detonated, and Lu Tongcang and two of his men were blown to pieces.

Afterwards, there would definitely be an investigation. Jiang He would not allow any fish to slip through the net.

Although the bodies were unrecognizable, he could confirm that it was Lu Tongcang, his longtime brother and trusted associate.

As a generation's hero, rising to power in turbulent times, he disappeared suddenly, shattered into pieces.

After Lu Tongcang's death, his followers scattered like monkeys when the tree falls. Some were caught by the people of Jiang he, while others were arrested by the police officers.

Sister Song, Sister Rong, and even Lu Zude, all of them were caught and none escaped.

Ling Shu naturally knew that most of this was a matter of exchanging benefits and cooperating for mutual gain.

The two big fish, Jiang He and the foreigners, were dividing the legacy left by Lu Tongcang. Punishing evil and eliminating evil was only a small part of it, and it was not even out of their subjective willingness. But being able to see the evil punished, and even pushing it with his own hands, Ling Shu still felt that this ending was very satisfying and refreshing.

"Where is Mrs. Sun?"

"Jiang He sent people to find her. Her younger sister looks like He You'an, which is why she caught the eye of Lu Tongcang. But because she refused to submit, Lu Tongcang used Mrs. Sun to threaten her. He even made Mrs. Sun act as an intermediary for the trafficking of women, using various means to lure or deceive innocent women and sell them to Lu Zude for training and resale. The Chunshan Club is such an auction platform."

Yue Dingtang stood up and went to open the window, letting the night breeze blow away the smell of the soup.

"Lu Zude has a congenital disability that makes it inconvenient for him to appear in public. So he pretends to be Mrs. Sun's son and lowers the guard of the victims. He has succeeded many times. Originally, with his status, he didn't need to personally do the dirty work. But his twisted mind made him feel proud of his repeated success, thinking that he was born to do this kind of work."

"Every time Mrs. Sun did something for him, her conscience would take a hit. After several times, she couldn't bear it anymore. She was helpless and had to continue to be an accomplice under their coercion and surveillance. Your brother-in-law's sudden appearance brought her a glimmer of hope."